Naruto: Days of Old
by DragonAlter
Summary: A shinobi from the original rookie squads that graduated from the academy with Neji, TenTen. and Rock Lee returns to the leaf village after being presumed to be dead, but he seems to be different from what he was like and is somehow more powerful than he
1. Chapter 1

Naruto: Days of Old

Episode 1: Return of the dead

Summary: A shinobi from the original rookie squads that graduated from the academy with Neji, TenTen. and Rock Lee returns to the leaf village after being presumed to be dead, but he seems to be different from what he was like and is somehow more powerful than he was back then, just what changed him and how did it change him.

(Note: This story will have sword styles that I create and some that I will borrow from other anime shows, the names and descriptions of all techniques will be at the bottom of each chapter)

Dark clouds surrounded the area around and inside the leaf village, as the rain pours down all around the leaf village and people ran through the streets to get to wherever they need to go and get back home, while others stood under roof edges and inside buildings to wait to see if the rain would stop. Everyone was too busy trying to get out of the rain, that no one noticed the strangely dressed man that was walking down the road with the straw conical hat over his head that hid his eyes and face and began to head towards the pathway that went up to the top of the Hokage mountain. The strangely dressed man had almost made it to the pathway, when he saw a blockade in front of him, with a few shinobi standing near it as well, to which he kept walking towards it until he was told to stop by a shinobi.

"You might want to avoid taking this path, sir" The shinobi said, "This path is dangerous due to the recent weather we've been having of late"

"Does this mean that this path is off limits?" the strangely dressed man asked

"No, you can take it if you want, just be careful" the shinobi said

The strangely dressed man nodded and began to walk up the pathway until he had reached the top and stopped there, as he saw another person walking up to the top from another pathway and watched as the other man kept walking on up the path until he reached the top as well and kept walking until he stopped to look at the strangely dressed man.

"You're gonna catch a cold up here if you keep standing up here" the man said, "Is there a reason why you're up here during this bad weather"

"Actually, there is a reason" the strangely dressed man said, "but you won't live long enough to care"

"What!!" the man said, as he watched the man draw out a strangely curved rosewood staff and after placing his hands on the sides of it, revealed it to be a Shirasaya Katana

"I am a Shadow Assassin that was sent here to kill you because of your betrayal to Feudal Lord Kanzer" the strangely dressed man said, "You, Nanzu Takaido, gave info to the leaf village to help in their attempt to assassinate his son in return for protection from the Feudal lord, himself"

"I had no other option" Nanzu said, "His son was going to kill several innocent people for crimes that they didn't commit"

"That is of no concern of mine, I just do as I am told" the Shadow Assassion said, "It is time for you to die"

Nanzu turned to run, but he wasn't quick enough and was suddenly slashed across his back and then stabbed him through the chest, before kicking him off the mountain edge and down to the bottom of the Hokage mountain, where he crashed into the ground and caught the attention of the shinobi that were at the bottom. The Shadow Assassin suddenly jumped off the edge of the mountain and held his arms tightly at his sides, going down the mountain quicker and when he nearly reached the bottom, he suddenly stuck his hands out and landed on them and did a flip onto his feet, before beginning to run towards the entrance. An alarm suddenly rang throughout the village and people began to run into buildings, allowing him a clear path to the exit out of the leaf village, which was now closing and having several shinobi gathering in front of it. The Shadow Assassin suddenly jumped back, as about six shuriken suddenly collided with the ground and he looked up to see a group of shinobi standing on a bridge that overlooked the road and he got an idea on how to slow down the shinobi chasing him from behind. He suddenly jumped onto the side of a building on the left, then jumped up higher onto a building on the right, then finally jumped up to right under the bridge and with a spinning cut, he cut through the supports under the bridge and caused it to collapse onto the road and into the streets, blocking the road somewhat and slowing down the shinobi that were chasing after him, but there was a price for what he did and that price was now he wouldn't make it in time before the gate closed and had to find another way out of the village. He suddenly jabbed his sword into the ground and ripped it up rapidly, bringing up lots of dirt and dust into the air, allowing him to run to the left of the gate, heading for the western gate of the leaf village. The strangely clothed man kept running towards the left, but suddenly jumped into a dark alley and pressed his back against the wall of a building and held his breath, as some shinobi ran by and stopped only a few feet away.

"We have to hurry, he was last spotted heading this direction to reach the western gate" one shinobi, a female with brown hair and red marks on her face said, "Kiba said he was going to meet us up there, Hana, so let's hurry"

"I'm hurrying as fast as I can, mom" the girl, Hana said, "I still can't believe that someone could just walk into the village and just kill someone then expect to get out so easily"

"We're not dealing with any ordinary person, Hana" the mom said, "from the intel I was given, before his target died, he revealed that the man was a Shadow Assassin"

"A Shadow Assassin! That's a name I haven't heard in a while" A voice said, but besides the two there, the only ones left were dogs, "I thought that they were all wiped out long ago"

"Many people did, Kuromaru, They were supposibly wiped out during the Great Purge" the mom said, "enough talk, we have to hurry up and get there"

'_These people must be of the Inuzuka clan, a clan that specializes in breeding and using ninja dogs_' the strangely dressed man though, '_It would be bad if one of them picked up any scent of me, I'd better lose them quick_'

The strangely dressed man moved slowly up the dark alleyway and up the streets until he reached the river that went through the village and after making sure that the area was clear, he slowly lowered himself into the water and began to swim down the river towards the western exit and when he noticed a tunnel big enough for him to move through that went towards the western exit, he pulled himself into it and began to slowly crawl down it, until it finally went into an underground water canal that he could stand in and began to run towards the western exit, until he heard voices near a grate and stopped to listen into them.

"Are all of the entrances to the village shut down?" a male voice asked

"Yes, they are all closed tightly and every possible exit from the village is now sealed off" another male voice said, "There's no chance of him getting out of the village, now all we have to do is search the entire village and not even leave a small area unsearched until we find that assassin"

'_Heh...you believe that I'd be stupid enough to try and use the main gates and any obvious exit from the village_' the strangely dressed man thought, '_I'd better get moving before someone decides to check down here and find me_'

"Halt!!" A voice shouted from behind him, as he stopped and turned his head to see Hana and her mom, along with the a dog that looked like a wolf and had an eyepatch over his left eye that stood behind him and the two female shinobi each held a kunai in their hands.

"Were you two allowing me to believe that you didn't notice me in that alleyway?" the strangely dressed man asked

"Of course" Hana said, "We needed to follow you to see how you were gonna get out of the village"

"I see" the strangely dressed man said, "Mind if I know the names of the beautiful captors?"

"...Hana" Hana said, "and this is my mother, Tsume and our dog, Kuromaru"

"Hana!" Kuromaru said, sighing, "now that you know our names, care to tell us yours?"

"My name...it's been a while since anyone has asked me that and I've nearly forgotten it" the strangely dressed man said, "My name is Zyden Kinidi"

"I see, now that we're better acquainted, how about you turn around and drop any weapons that you have" Tsume said, "We can talk this over with the Hokage and maybe you'll be able to get off easy"

"I'm afraid I can't do that, but I appreciate that offer" Zyden said, as he dipped a finger into a container of ink near his chest and began to draw something on his right hand palm, "I am one of the last members of the Shadow Assassins and I can't lose it all just yet"

Zyden suddenly turned around and rose his right hand towards Hana and Tsume which now had a strange symbol written on it that was glowing with a dark purple light, causing Hana and Tsume to get into a defensive stance and Kuromaru got into a attacking stance.

"What is that?" Hana said, as she kept up her defensive position

"Dark Arts!" Kuromaru said, "The mystical powers of the Shadow Assassins"

"Correct, these powers are mainly used as last resorts to attempt to escape" Zyden said

"Kuromaru, let's go!" Tsume said, "Hana, stay back!"

Tsume suddenly took off towards Zyden and threw her kunai at him, but he turned and using his left hand, drew out his Shirasaya, sheath and all and knocked the Kunai away from him, but Kuromaru suddenly sprang and bit onto his right arm and jerked the glowing seal away from Tsume, but also accidentally made him fire a black ball with dark lightning around it towards Hana. Zyden saw this and after kicking Kuromaru in the head, ran over towards Hana and jumped in front of her, taking the full force of the black ball. A huge explosion occurred and it destroyed the ground above them and also attracted the attention of every shinobi in the village around them, but when they arrived, they were surprised to see Hana leaning against the ground in the hole and Zyden on the ground with purple smoke coming off of his body, while Tsume and Kuromaru stand on the street and wait for everyone to get there.

"What happened?" A female shinobi asked

"Kurenai...we found the assassin" Tsume said, pointing at Zyden "That's him in the hole"

"Him? he doesn't even look old enough to be an assassin" Kurenai said, "He looks like a Genin"

"I was surprised when we saw how he looked, but he is a Shadow Assassin because he was able to use Dark Arts" Tsume said, "That's what caused the explosion"

"I take it that it backfired on him" Kurenai said

"No...I went after him to try and stop him and Kuromaru managed to get his arm, but it made him fire it at Hana" Tsume said, "He...He went and jumped in front of the blast to protect Hana"

"What? He jumped in the way of the blast to protect Hana?" Kurenai said, confused, "I would've thought he'd use that time to get away"

"We'll take care of him from here" An ANBU member said, as he jumped down into the hole, "Why don't you take Hana down to the Hospital to see if she has any injuries"

"I'm fine" Hana said, getting up, "He took the full force of the blast"

The ANBU member nodded and lifted up Zyden onto his shoulder and immediately jumped up onto the roof of a building and began to head towards the ANBU headquarters and once he reached it, he immediately walked in and down to the detention center and threw Zyden into a cell and shut the door, locking it shut and then had his weapons sent to the weapons lockup. Zyden slowly sturred and began to sit up, when he suddenly coughed up some blood and began to recollect on what had happened.

'_I remember now...I jumped in front of that Dark blast to protect that girl...damn dog, if he hadn't bit my hand, I would've never fired off the Dark Blast at her and had to jump in its way_' Zyden thought '_Damn...I think I broke some ribs because of that attack and these bite marks on my hand hurt like a bitch_'

The door suddenly opened and Four people walked into the room, one was a purple haired women with a tan trenchcoat on, another was a man with a headband covering his entire head and wore a black trenchcoat, the third one was another women with black hair and wearing a purple or dark blue like kimono looking clothing and the fourth person was a blonde haired women with huge 'assets', wearing a green jacket and blue pants.

"Shizune, check his wounds and bandage them up" the blonde said to the black haired lady, "This is the assassin that killed Nanzu Takaido?"

"It's hard to believe, Lady Tsunade" Shizune said to the blonde haired lady, "But according to the people, he was the one that was found where the explosion occurred""

"he looks so familiar, like I've seen him before" the purple haired girl said, "It's hard to believe that a kid of his age would be an Assassin, even more to be one of the Shadow Assassins"

"Instead of talking about me like I'm unconscious" Zyden said, "How about we just get this over and ask your questions"

"Very well, We already know your name and all that, now why did you kill Nanzu Takaido?" Tsunade asked

"I was payed to kill him by Fire Lord Kanzer" Zyden said, "He betrayed him by relaying info that lead to his son's death"

"but why did you only go after him, not after the shinobi that killed his son" Anko asked

"Nanzu Takaido was one of the council of Fire Lord Kanzer and he betrayed him" Zyden said, "And you all should know that betraying a Feudal Lord is only punishable by Death"

"He never informed us that he was part of the council of the Fire Lord Kanzer" Tsunade said, "and what about you? How is a kid of your age a member of one of the most deadly assassins guild in the entire world"

"Do you really want to know the story?" Zyden said, closing his eyes, "I can promise you, it will not be easy for you to hear"

"Tell us" The man said

"Very well, Ibiki Morino" Zyden said, surprising everyone, "The story will start with this one sentence: Before I became a Shadow Assassin, I was actually a Genin of this very village"

**Items and events said in the story**

**Dark Arts: The Dark Arts are powerful skills that are used by the Shadow Assassins and are similar to Jutsu used by Shinobi, except that Shinobi use handsigns and the Shadow Assassins use ink to draw seals on the palms of their hands to use these powers.**

**Shadow Assassins: A guild that was created during the early years, before the creation of Shinobi villages, they were a guild that specialized in Assassinations of any level, from simple farmers to the highest Feudal Lord of a Country, they were praised for being the best at their skills.**

**The Great Purge: An incident caused by several Feudal Lords that feared the Shadow Assassins were becoming too powerful and ordered that they all be killed, to which armies of Soldiers and shinobi attacked the many headquarters of the Shadow Assassins and eliminated almost all of them, leaving very few alive.**

**Dark Blast: One of the many 'Dark Art' skills of the Shadow Assassins, This ability has the user build up a massive amount of energy and fire it into a ball of Dark power that heads towards an opponent which can cause extreme amounts of damage and even possibly kill a person.**


	2. Chapter 2

Naruto: Days of Old

Episode 2: The Story of the Past

Summary: A shinobi from the original rookie squads that graduated from the academy with Neji, TenTen. and Rock Lee returns to the leaf village after being presumed to be dead, but he seems to be different from what he was like and is somehow more powerful than he was back then, just what changed him and how did it change him.

(Note: This story will have sword styles that I create and some that I will borrow from other anime shows, the names and descriptions of all techniques will be at the bottom of each chapter)

_**RECAP**_

_**"what about you? How is a kid of your age a member of one of the most deadly assassins guild in the entire world" Tsunade said**_

_**"Do you really want to know the story?" Zyden said, closing his eyes, "I can promise you, it will not be easy for you to hear"**_

_**"Tell us" The man said**_

_**"Very well, Ibiki Morino" Zyden said, surprising everyone, "The story will start with this one sentence: Before I became a Shadow Assassin, I was actually a Genin of this very village"  
**_

* * *

"What!!" Anko said, shocked and angered "Don't lie like that, boy!" 

"You told me to tell you the story and I am doing that, whether you believe me or not is your choice" Zyden said, "Do you want me to continue or not?"

"Go on" Tsunade said, "How did you get into the Shadow Assassins guild"

"I was originally a Genin of this village, I graduated with several other students but the one probably most noticable was Neji Hyuuga" Zyden said, "I managed to pass the Genin test and become a member of the Rookie Nine, but after several weeks of D-ranked missions, we begged and got a C-ranked mission"

"What was the mission?" Shizune asked

"We were asked to Infiltrate the Shadow's Guild branch near Tanzuku Town to meet up with a contact that had information" Zyden said, "It was rumored that Orochimaru was in contact with the leader of that current guild and the Third Hokage wanted to know if he was talking to Orochimaru and if he was, what they were talking about"

"I see" Tsunade said, "What happened?"

"We managed to get into the guild and meet up with the contact, but we were discovered and had to retreat from the guild and that's when it happened" Zyden said, "My sensei at the time, Nenji Okido wanted me to use some explosive tags as a diversion so we could escape and then meet up in a part of the forest to get back to the village"

"What happened after that?" Tsunade asked

"I did as he asked and caused the diversion..." Zyden said, as everyone noticed his fist clenching, "but when I got to the place, he wasn't there, only a few Shadow Assassins"

"What happened after that?" Tsunade said

"They informed me of something..." Zyden said, "...that bastard of a sensei sold me out to allow the others to get away!!!"

"WHAT!!!!" Tsunade said, shocked at the statement, "Are you saying that a leaf shinobi, a SENSEI to Genin sold out one of his students to get away"

"That's exactly what I'm saying" Zyden said, "after that, I was taken back to the Shadow Assassins headquarters, where I was a prisoner of theirs"

"Were there any rescue attempts?" Shizune asked

"Not that I remember, ANBU members weren't dispatched to the Shadow Assassin's guild at all during the time before the Third Hokage died" Anko said

"This is a bold statement that you're making towards one of our Jonin" Tsunade said, "...but for some odd reason, I believe that you're not lieing"

"Lord Hokage, you can't be serious" Ibiki said, "How do we know that this boy isn't making this entire story up?"

"Look under my records in the shinobi archives" Zyden said, "That'll prove it"

"Send someone there to find a record on Zyden Kinidi" Tsunade ordered, as Anko nodded and walked out of the room, "Now then, what happened after that?"

"Basically, I was given the basics of all prisoners, tortured till I was near death and left to regain my strength, given the little amount of food needed to survive and the everyday guard beatings because they were in a bad mood" Zyden said

"What kinds of Torture?" Anko asked, curious

"Torture that should never be used against a child" Zyden said, as he stood up and ripped off the remains of his shirt and showed them the scars on his body, "All that time, I kept believing that the Leaf village would come to help me escape, but days went to weeks and weeks went to months, without a single rescue attempt and then came the breakout"

"The breakout?" Ibiki asked

"Several other prisoners were able to break out of the Shadow Assassins guild, but I stayed there" Zyden said, "when asked, I told them that I wouldn't have been able to survive out there and that most of those men will be dead by dawn, so I'd rather stay here, where I'd at least have a chance at survival, then they offered me a position in the guild and showed me the truth"

"The Truth?" Shizune asked

"The leaf village wasn't coming to save me" Zyden said, "They had forgotten everything about me and even my family had no ideat of what happened to me, to them, I was just a failure, so I accepted the offer to become a Shadow Assassin"

"Lord Hokage!!" Anko said, barging into the room and carrying a folder, "What he's saying is true!"

"What!!" Ibiki said, shocked

"We found a folder on a boy named Zyden Kinidi and everything that he says is true, Zyden was sent on a mission of exactly what he said and when his team returned, his sensei reported that Zyden died during that mission" Anko said

"Damn...have ANBU find Nenji Okido right away!!" Tsunade ordered, "I want him in my office for punishment of his crime!"

"NO!!" Zyden said, suddenly standing up and wincing a bit, because of his still injured ribs, "If anyone is punishing him, it's me!"

"You're still in trouble for the assassination of Nanzu Takaido" Anko said, before Tsunade put her hand in front of Anko

"No...all charges are dropped" Tsunade said

"What!" Ibiki said, "The council will want a reason"

"The reason is that we abandoned a shinobi and this is our way of repenting for our mistake" Tsuande said, "but we can't let you punish him...you'd kill him"

"No...I don't seek unnecessary death" Zyden said, "I want to know why he left me there to the Shadow Assassins"

"I believe that we can allow you to ask him that question, at least" Tsunade said, "He's probably training with your former teammates, let's go see them now"

"I see...I'd go and see them, but I have one problem" Zyden said, standing up, "Protecting that girl from that Dark Blast completely destroyed my clothes, I have nothing to wear"

"You got a point, I'll give you the payment for your mission and allow you to go get some new clothes, before you go to meet your old teammates" Tsuande said

"Can I have my equipment back?" Zyden asked

"Of course" Tsunade said, "I'm going to head to the training ground to talk with Nenji"

Tsunade walked out of the room, followed by Shizune and once they shut the door, Tsunade closed her eyes and sighed deeply and began to walk towards the exit of the building, before slowly turning around and looking back towards the area where Zyden was locked in.

"Lady Tsunade?' Shizune asked

"A kid his age shouldn't had to have gone through such torture" Tsunade said, remembering the scars, "even if he was a shinobi, a kid shouldn't have to deal with those kinds of scars"

"That's the life of a shinobi and they don't tell the students that in the real life of a shinobi, these things happen" Shizune said

_**Training ground 11**_

Two young shinobi fought in the middle of the training grounds, while Nenji Okido stood near them and watched over their training unaware of the intel that had just been informed to the Hokage or the fact that she was on her way on there to confront him about it, nor was he aware that Zyden was on his way here to confront him. Nenji was busy within his own thoughts, when he suddenly snapped out of his trance once he heard some footsteps going towards his direction and turned to see Tsunade walking towards him.

"Lord Hokage! This is a surprise" Nenji said, "What can I do for you?"

"I actually came out here to talk to you about something" Tsunade said, "Do you remember the first C-ranked mission you did with your current squad?"

"Yes, I do" Nenji said, looking up at the sky, "That was the mission that I lost their teammate to the Shadow Assassins"

"We're reopening the investigation of his death because of new evidence that has appeared recently due to the attack on the village by that Shadow Assassin" Tsunade said, as Nenji suddenly got spooked for a second, before he relaxed again, "He stated that he had info relating to Zyden and is willing to release it to us for the charges to be dropped"

"Is that so?" Nenji said, "Why are you telling me this?"

"You were his sensei" Tsunade said, "I thought you'd want to know this"

"I see..." Nenji said, "Is there anything else?"

"Yes" Tsunade said, "Did you see how Zyden died?"

"Yes, I did" Nenji said, "He was stabbed in the back by a sword from one of the Shadow Assassin"

"I see" Tsunade said, "I'll inform you of our decision and if you remember anything else, come tell me"

Nenji nodded and watched as Tsunade began to walk back towards the village, then Nenji suddenly walked over to his two students and was unaware of the fact that Tsunade stood back in the woods near the training grounds and watched as he walked towards his students.

"I'm not surprised that he kept quiet about it" Tsunade said, "How about you, Zyden"

Zyden walked up out of the woods and stood near Tsunade in his new outfit, which was a black dress suit with a purple dress shirt and black tie and a long tan trench coat over the suit, which kinda surprised Tsunade with the new clothes, since she'd expect him to wear something more along the lines of an assassin get-up.

"Nice suit" Tsunade said, "I take it you overheard the conversation"

"Yep" Zyden said, "I take it your plan is to try to either catch him attempting to assassinate the Shadow Assassin, which he doesn't know is me or have him admit the truth to you"

"Yeah, I want him to sweat a bit" Tsunade said, "He doesn't deserve to be a Jonin sensei since what he did was true"

"An interesting tactic" Zyden said, "reminds me of the assassination on the wealthy contractor, Manta Korubi"

"I heard about that, the assassin informed him a week before the assassination of his upcoming death" Tsuande said, "He went and hired several people to protect him and on that very day, he ended up being killed by the Shadow Assassin"

"How is this the same?" Tsunade asked

"This is the same because he did this because he wanted the man to worry and sweat a bit about his upcoming fate" Zyden said, "He used his powers as Tax collector for the Feudal Lord to force people to pay extra money to him for taxes"

"Anyways, What are we going to do if he tries to infiltrate the ANBU Headquarters to silence the Shadow Assassin?" Tsunade asked, "I don't expect for him to try it, but if he does, we need to have a plan"

"Leave that to me" Zyden said, as he turned around to walk away, "I'll handle that business myself, but I'll need the assistance of two of your ANBU members"

"Okay?" Tsunade said, confused, "What are you going to do?"

"You'll find out when it happens" Zyden said, walking away

Tsunade shook her head and began to follow Zyden back to the village as the sun began to set once again on the dark clouds of the leaf village, while the drops of rain that landed on the leaves in the trees were suddenly blown out of the trees and a few leaves broke off of the tree and began to swirl around in the air.

(Note: The name Nenji doesn't come from Neji Hyuuga, it comes from Ninja Nenji Kashiwazaki or otherwise known as Okina from Rurouni Kenshin)


	3. Chapter 3

Naruto: Days of Old

Episode 3: Closing the doors of the Past

Summary: A shinobi from the original rookie squads that graduated from the academy with Neji, TenTen. and Rock Lee returns to the leaf village after being presumed to be dead, but he seems to be different from what he was like and is somehow more powerful than he was back then, just what changed him and how did it change him.

(Note: This story will have sword styles that I create and some that I will borrow from other anime shows, the names and descriptions of all techniques will be at the bottom of each chapter)

_**RECAP**_

_**"Anyways, What are we going to do if he tries to infiltrate the ANBU Headquarters to silence the Shadow Assassin?" Tsunade asked, "I don't expect for him to try it, but if he does, we need to have a plan"**_

_**"Leave that to me" Zyden said, as he turned around to walk away, "I'll handle that business myself, but I'll need the assistance of two of your ANBU members"**_

_**"Okay?" Tsunade said, confused, "What are you going to do?"**_

_**"You'll find out when it happens" Zyden said, walking away**_

_**Tsunade shook her head and began to follow Zyden back to the village as the sun began to set once again on the dark clouds of the leaf village, while the drops of rain that landed on the leaves in the trees were suddenly blown out of the trees and a few leaves broke off of the tree and began to swirl around in the air.  
**_

* * *

Nenji walked over towards his students, both of which were soaked because of the rain and even though he didn't want them to train in this weather, they chose to do so because they wanted to prepare themselves for the upcoming Chunin exam that was to occur in about 3 months. Nenji was really impressed with his students improvements and believed that they would do great in the upcoming Chunin exams, but his thoughts kept drawing back to what Tsunade said, about them reopening the investigation to the death of Zyden Kinidi.

'_I thought I heard the last of this with the Third Hokage, but what I did was what was necessary to save my team_' Nenji thought, as he walked towards his students, '_I had no other choice but to have them take one of my students hostage and if this Shadow Assassin tells them that I did it on purpose, I'll be screwed_'

"Sensei?" A voice said, as Nenji looked up to see his female student, a girl with dark hair and blue eyes, wearing some old shirt and pants, "Are you okay"

"I am, Misiko" Nenji said, "That is all for today, go home and get cleaned up, if the training ground has dried up tomorrow, we'll train tomorrow, Kenzu, stay behind a minute"

Misiko nodded and began to walk back towards the village to go get changed back into some dry clothing, but until she was out of sight, Nenji didn't open his mouth for a second and Kenzu kept standing there with a confused look on his face about why he was needed to stay behind.

"Good, she's gone" Nenji said, "Kenzu, they're reopening the investigation to Zyden's death"

"Are you serious?" Kenzu said, "Why?"

"A Shadow Assassin killed someone earlier today and they have him locked up in the ANBU HQ" Nenji said, "He's offering to give them info on Zyden's death in order to drop the charges"

"Damn...if they find out you allowed them to capture and kill Zyden" Kenzu said

"Hold the phone!!" Nenji interrupted, "You were as much a part of this as I was"

"No, I wasn't" Kenzu said, "You were the one that agreed to hand over Zyden to them to allow us to escape"

"Hey!! You were as much in this as I was, you could've stopped me but you wanted Zyden out of the way" Nenji said, "You knew that Misiko had feelings for him and wanted him gone so you could swoop in and take her for yourself"

"It doesn't matter about that, you allowed them to kill one of your students!" Kenzu said, "They'll think you're just trying to draw me in to soften your punishment!"

"I won't have to worry about telling them that, you're going to help me take this guy out" Nenji said

"Am I now?" Kenzu said, "What makes you think I'm going to do that?"

"If you don't, I'm going to tell the truth to Misiko" Nenji said, "You still haven't gotten anywhere close to winning her over and if she hears the truth now, she'll hate you forever"

"...Bastard" Kenzu said, "Fine, I'll help you clean up your mess, now what are you going to do?"

"We're going to go talk with this Shadow Assassin in the ANBU HQ" Nenji said, "During that time, we're going to convince him to not talk, even if it takes force"

"I see" Kenzu said, "We'd better do this now"

Nenji and Kenzu immediately began to run back towards the village and towards the direction of the ANBU HQ, where they were carry out their plan to make sure that the truth didn't come out and ruin them, but none of them were expecting what was really going on or what was going to happen.

_**Hidden Leaf Village, Apartment Building**_

Misiko stepped out of the bathroom and into her bedroom, looking out of her bedroom window and into the cloudy skies that surrounded the leaf village then looking down towards her bed and sat down on it, taking a picture off her nightstand and looking at it, which was a picture of her sensei, Nenji and her teammates, Kenzu and Zyden.

'_It's been so long since that day that Zyden died_' Misiko thought, '_I still remember the conversation that we had before we went to the guild HQ_'

_**Village of Tentzu, Inn, 1 1/2 years ago**_

_Misiko stood in her room and looked out the window to the blue skies that were all around them and the sun shining brightly on such a perfect day, the only thing that could've ruined that moment for her occured when a knock came at her door and broke her out of her peaceful moment. Misiko grumbled a bit and walked over to the door to open it, where she was surprised to see Zyden standing outside the door, which made her smile brightly, as he walked into the room and she closed the door._

_"Can I help you with something, Zyden?" Misiko asked_

_"Nenji-sensei told me to inform you that we were heading to the Shadow Assassin's guild tonight" Zyden said, "Are you okay?"_

_"yeah...I was hoping that you came here to talk about something else" Misiko said, sighing, "Something I told you before we came here"_

_"Misiko...I think that after we finish this mission, that we should get something to eat after the mission" Zyden said, as he left the room_

_"Zyden..." Misiko said, smiling_

_**Hidden Leaf Village, Apartment Building, Present Time**_

Misiko sighed and sat the picture back down on her night stand, she still couldn't believe that Zyden was dead and she didn't even know how he died, all she remembered was her waiting at the safe point, when her sensei came into the room and said that Zyden was killed by the Shadow Assassins and when she came back to the village, she spent several days in her apartment crying about his death.

"You jerk..." Misiko said, as tears came down her eyes again, "How could you die on me without taking me on that date?"

"A date?" A voice said, as Misiko suddenly sat up and turned around, "I don't remember saying anything about a date"

"It can't be..." Misiko said, staring through the door of her room

_**Hidden Leaf Village, ANBU HQ**_

"You wish to see the Shadow Assassin?" An ANBU member said, "Any particular reason?"

"I want to see if he was the one that killed my student" Nenji said, "Kenzu wants to know why he killed him"

"Very well, I'll take you to see him" the ANBU member said, "You'll only be allowed a few minutes"

"Very well" Nenji said, "let's go"

The ANBU member walked out from behind the desk and began to head down toward the detention center and the cell block, followed by Nenji and Kenzu closely behind and once they were able to reach the cell that he was locked in, they opened up the doors to see that he wasn't even in the room, only one that was in the room was an unconscious ANBU member with a note on his back.

"Sir!" The ANBU member said, running in the room to check on him, "Are you okay? Sir!"

Nenji looked down at the paper on the ANBU members back and read it quickly, before turning around and walking away, confusing both Kenzu and the ANBU member on why he just suddenly left without helping the downed ANBU member or at least explaining where he was going.

'_That message was obviously meant for me, like he knew that I'd attempt to go after him_' Nenji thought, '_"I'll be waiting for you at the Forbidden Training Grounds, come alone"'_

_**Hidden Leaf Village, Forbidden Training Grounds**_

Nenji arrived at the forbidden training grounds and walked into the middle of the training grounds, feeling a bit nervous and over-exposed until he saw someone standing and looking at the plaque that was placed at the otherside of the training grounds, to which he walks down to the plaque and looks at it as well.

"not many people know the location of this training ground" Nenji said, "and only a few know the truth about the truth behind the training ground"

"Yeah, it happened a long time ago, but several Genin were brutally murdered out here" the man said, "Every team that was assigned to this training ground got brutally murdered, so they decided to forbid the use of this training ground"

"True" Nenji said, "No mere Shadow Assassin would know that, so how'd you do it?"

"What do you mean?" the man asked

"How did you survive, Zyden?" Nenji said

"I was taken prisoner by them and locked away for some time until they asked me to join their guild" Zyden said, "I became a Shadow Assassin"

"I see, have you talked to anyone sinc you came back?" Nenji asked

"I've seen the new hokage and a few ANBU Members" Zyden said, "...and Misiko"

"I see, you met up with Misiko" Nenji said, "Kenzu is going to be upset about this"

"I know, Misiko told me about how after my death, Kenzu began to start getting too close, too soon" Zyden said, "well, he wasn't ever the sharpest kunai in the pouch"

"What happened with Misiko?" Nenji asked

"It was actually exactly what I thought it would be like" Zyden said, rubbing his cheek

_**Hidden Leaf Village, Misiko's apartment, a few hours ago**_

_All Misiko could do was just stand there and look at the one person that she thought was dead standing at the doorway into her bedroom, not being able to move or say a single thing until Zyden came over to her and took her hand into his hand and put it on his face to prove that he was real. Misiko suddenly gained back her nerve and suddenly became really mad at the fact that he was gone for over a year and now decided to come back, when she ripped her hand away and suddenly slapped Zyden across the face._

_"Where the hell have you been!!" Misiko yelled, "Everyone thought you were dead and now you come back and act like nothing happened?"_

_"Misiko, I-" Zyden began, but he was slapped again_

_"Shut up!!" Misiko said, "I spent 4 months praying that you'd return and nothing!! What makes you think that you have the right to even show up after all this time"_

_"Misi-" Zyden began again, only to be slapped a third time_

_"I don't want to hear your excuses, just get the hell out!!" Misiko said_

_Zyden nodded and walked out of her room and towards the door, when he noticed a pad of paper and picked it up, then after writing a note on it, left her apartment and began to leave, while Misiko suddenly walks out of her room, still made and turns to grab her keys and go get some dinner, when she notices the note on the pad of paper, so she picks it up and begins to read the note._

**Misiko,**

**You are really mad at me and I expect that you don't want to hear it, but the reason I never came back was because I was being held as a prisoner by the Shadow Assassin and when I was finally let go, I was given a choice, with one being join the Shadow Assassins or the other being to stay as a prisoner and die eventually in their prison. I joined their group and I was trained to become A Shadow Assassin, a user of the Dark Arts, and a killing machine. I didn't come back because they showed me that even after that entire mission, no one seemed to care that I was dead, not even my own family seemed to care that I was dead and I believed him that no one cared, but apparently someone did care and I was too arrogant to realize that. I just want to apologize to you about not coming back to the village, I guess I believed that you were one of the people that just forgot about me, but I was wrong and I'm sorry.**

**Zyden**

_Misiko crushed the note in her hand and closed her eyes because she felt like a fool, she wouldn't let him explain the reason on why he didn't come back to the village and just slapped him, then told him to leave so he did as he asked and she now felt very guilty about her actions and needed to apologize._

_**Hidden Leaf Village, Forbidden Training Grounds, Present Time**_

"I see, so she got pissed about all of that" Nenji said, "You didn't tell her that I was the reason why you were a prisoner?"

"No, because she's going to find out eventually" Zyden said, "You've probably already figured it out that the Hokage knows the truth"

"yeah...and my ninja career is over because of it" Nenji said, "although it's over...I'm actually glad because of it"

"Why?" Zyden asked

"This was a continual guilt in me because of it and now that the truth's come out, I feel like a huge weight is off my shoulder" Nenji said

"Is that so?" Zyden asked, as he traced a finger on his right palm, "So, you hold no regrets, whatsoever"

"None at all" Nenji said, "Do you?"

"No" Zyden said, as he turned to face his sensei, "before you go, I have one more thing to say"

"What?" Nenji said, but before he could do anything, he felt Zyden's palm press onto his chest, where his heart was and a black spear suddenly ripped through his chest, pierced his heart and ripped out his back and Nenji kept standing there with a shocked and pale look on his face, as blood squirted out from his back from around the spear.

"Don't.Ever.Fuck.With.Me." Zyden snarled, as he ripped the spear out of Nenji's chest and it vanished into a puff of smoke and Nenji collapsed onto the ground, "Got it?"

"So, I see you killed him" A voice said, as Zyden turned to see the Hokage standing behind him with a few ANBU members with her

"Yep" Zyden said, "It was something I needed to do, I needed to close the doors of my past"

"I see, and you did that" Tsunade said, "anyways, you just completed these ANBU members mission anyways"

"I see, you were ordered to kill him" Zyden said, as he vanished in a sudden mist of darkness "then since I did it, you can do the clean up"

"well, that was rude" an ANBU member said

"Yep" Tsunade said, "but I have a feeling this isn't the last we see of him"

**Black Spear: Another 'Dark Arts' technique, this one is meant for the quick assassination or a merciless kill because you push your palm onto the person's chest and the spear pierces through them and then vanishes and if you do it again, it does it again.**


End file.
